Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepu

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany of May 23, 1949 (colloquially also the German Basic Law; generally abbreviated GG, more rarely also GrundG) is the constitution of Germany.

The Parliamentary Council, which met in Bonn from September 1948 to June 1949, drafted and approved the Basic Law on behalf of the three Western occupying powers. It was accepted by all German state parliaments in the three western zones with the exception of the Bavarian one. There was therefore no referendum. This and the renunciation of the designation as “constitution” should emphasize the provisional character of the Basic Law and the Federal Republic of Germany founded with it. The Parliamentary Council was of the opinion that the German Reich continued to exist and that a new constitution for the entire state could therefore only be adopted by all Germans or their elected representatives. Because the Germans in the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) and in the Saarland were prevented from participating, a "Basic Law" was to be created for a transitional period as a "provisional partial constitution of West Germany": The original preamble raised the will of the German people for national and state unity emerged. The Saarland became part of the Federal Republic on January 1, 1957 and thus came under the scope of the Basic Law. With the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, it became the constitution of the entire German people